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Old 10-28-2010, 09:06 PM
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sphelps sphelps is offline
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Default LED protection

What are other people using on their DIY LED fixtures to prevent corrosion and other moisture damage to their LEDs and solder points? I have some CREE LEDs mounted on an aluminum heat sink and I'm mounting it directly over the water, do I need a shield or is there a protective coating or paint I can use? I'm not using optics.
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Old 10-28-2010, 09:21 PM
roblarss roblarss is offline
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I have a sheet of 1/4" acrylic screwed with 1" spacers to the heatsink over my LEDs. Before while I was testing I had nothing and I ruined a few leds in a few days.

Last edited by roblarss; 10-28-2010 at 09:50 PM. Reason: messed up wording
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Old 10-28-2010, 09:34 PM
ferret ferret is offline
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Yes and a protective len is required. I've installed 1/8"th acrylic panels for my diy led fixtures particularly finding it useful during feeding my fish only tank when the fishes attack the frozen food and splashing the saltwater with their tails.
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Old 10-28-2010, 11:05 PM
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I have installed LEDS for commerical buildings, on the outside or near water, what we do to "seal" them for protection is use Heat Shrink Tubing and Silicon gel.

Only problem is good luck trying to replace them if you need to...since well the Silicon wont conduction electricity but its super hard to clean off it you to.

Check it out though could be an option.
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Old 10-28-2010, 11:22 PM
mseepman mseepman is offline
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I haven't built my big fixture yet but I see on RC that some people use a spray on sealer that Luxeon makes for their stuff. There was quite a debate about it on the DIY forum.

Take a look at Luxeon's website as I'm sure they list the spray there. It's clear and you apparently cover everything facing down at the tank (including heatsink and LED's).
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Old 10-29-2010, 01:28 PM
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sphelps sphelps is offline
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Alright, thanks for all the info. I guess I'll have to make a few changes to fit a shield just to be on the safe side. I will also look into that spray.

Cheers.
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